Let me begin by saying I am not in the land of sunshine and swaying palm trees, watching the Orioles work out in Sarasota, Fla. No, I'm here in sunny Baltimore, where I curse on the days I scrape ice off the car windshield and where I get most of my Orioles news from the outstanding reporting of The Sun's Eduardo A. Encina and my buddy Peter Schmuck.
Still, like everyone who follows the O's, I am riveted by the Brian Roberts saga.
Will he be able to play this season after suffering those horrible concussion symptoms? If so, how much? No one knows. Roberts doesn't know. His doctors don't know. Buck Showalter and the Orioles don't know. That's partly what makes the whole thing so riveting.
Each sighting of him captured by TV cameras or still photographers, whether he's hitting off a tee on a back field, or chatting quietly with Showalter, or running wind sprints with his teammates, leads to fresh speculation about his status.